Beta Don

My 'schedule'is to do the 13 quart dump and refill every 25,000 miles We had a small Mitsubishi van years ago and it had a standard drain plug on the auto trans pan. Every other 3K engine oil change,I would dump the trans and put in 2 1/2 quarts of new fluid - I think with the converter it held 7 quarts total, so about every 10,000 miles, we had changed the trans fluid. I really liked that arrangement, but unfortunately very few manufacturers put a drain plug in the trans pan Don

Amen on the better headlights! - They really missed the boat there, didn't they? Don

The 'noise' a Harley makes isn't because it's a V twin - It's because the firing order is so screwed up. It's a 45 degree Vee, but because both cylinders use a common crankshaft connection the firing order is a bit . . . . irregular. The cylinders fire 405 degrees apart (360 + 45) and then the next time it's 315 degrees apart, (360 - 45) and the result is the 'potato, potato' sound, which to me sounds like it's broken . . . . makes me want to take it apart and FIX IT!! In the beginning, it kinda, sorta made a little bit sense. They first put a 1 cylinder motor on a bicycle and eventually needed more power, so they went to 2 cylinders. To keep the engine as narrow as possible so your knees didn't hit the motor, they aligned the cylinders one directly in front of the other, which made them share a single crankpin Fast forward 20 or 30 years and Harleys had that famous transmission and clutch, which was easily twice as wide as the engine, so there was really no need to continue with the antiquated motor - They could have offset the cylinders a couple inches and gave each cylinder it's own throw on the crankshaft, which would have 1.) Evened out the firing order, 2.) Allowed the motor to spin faster without blowing up, 3.) Made much more power, 4.) Given it better fuel economy, 5.) Made it last much longer - That irregular firing order also plays havoc with the carburetor But, I think by that point, about all they had going for them was the potato, potato sound - Henderson was making an inline four which blew the wheels off the Harleys and by 1930 just about everybody else was making a much more modern, better engineered engine, but Harley soldiered on, sticking with 1913 technology Don

I did not - I had the front up on ramps about a foot tall and the van needs to be level to check the trans fluid Don

Well, you did say you wanted to go from 16's to 18's so you could get taller sidewalls for more 'cush' . . . . If your new 18" tires have a taller sidewall than the 16" tires that came on the van, that's a pretty major change Don

Very first oil change! With ramps, it's a bit of a pain removing the lower engine cover, but now that I've done it once, the next time will be easier for sure. Previous owner of my van was a Ford dealership, so all but one of the Torx screws are a bit stripped out which makes them easy to remove and replaced just using fingers - If tight is good, then too tight must be better??? The engine drain plug and the oil filter were installed by the Incredible Hulk which made them VERY difficult to remove. A box end wrench wasn't long enough to loosen the drain plug and the oil filter took every cuss word I knew to get it off. Both replaced with a more moderate amount of torque The old oil was put in at 12,000 miles, so it had almost 8K on it and still looked very clean - Not black at all. The oil sensor hadn't said it was time for a change, but we're headed out on a long trip and I wanted fresh oil The oil fill cap on the 2.5 is in a bit of an odd place, to say the least. It's back under the lip of the vent system which means you'll need to custom cut a funnel so you can get it in there. I used Castrol Edge 5W20 full synthetic and a Purolator Synthetic oil filter. The oil comes in 5 quart jugs, so I bought two. It took exactly 5.7 quarts - The 5 quart jug left me almost a quart low after running it for a minute. Somehow, I managed not to spill a drop! It was 93 degrees today and if I had to do this outside, I think I would have died, but I bought a big window unit and installed it up high in the back wall of my garage a couple winters ago, so after it runs for a half hour or so, the cold air falls to the floor and right under the van - It was almost comfortable in there 19,677 miles on it now - New oil, filter and air filter so I'm good for a year or 10,000 miles, whichever comes first . . . but I'm gonna do the 13 quart transmission drain and refill at 25,000 miles, so my guess is I'll be back under there sometime this fall Don

I'm sure they probably do - Likely cheaper elsewhere though With the 2014's and newer, you can program the TPMS using the dash display, but it's a bit time consuming and you have to do all 4 wheels separately, bleeding off a bit of air until the car recognizes which wheel you're doing and then of course you have to refill all the tires to the proper pressure Don

There is a power source in the back of the van - Why not run it off the TC's battery and then you don't need to worry about recharging the little ones . . . . or buying a bigger one? Don

To keep the same overall size, 18" tires will all have a much shorter sidewall (less 'cush') than tires for a 16" wheel - Bigger wheel, less room for sidewall. Our 55's on 16" wheels already have a pretty short sidewall Our 55's (55% of the 215 width) have a 4.66" sidewall, the 45's (45% of the 215) have a 3.81" sidewall - 18% shorter The 215/45R18's are a close match to the stock 215/55R16's - Only about 1% too big. Probably the best match you'll find, but you won't like the sidewall height if you want more cush https://www.tacomaworld.com/tirecalc?tires=215-55r16-215-45r18 Also, the BIG problem will be finding a tire with the proper load rating - Don't think you can. Our stock 16 Continentals load rating is 97W and the best of the 215/45R18's that I see are only rated 93W - Meant for a car and not a van . . . . especially not a loaded van. If you present this scenario to one of the experts at Tire Rack, they wouldn't sell you a 215/45R18 to put on a Transit Connect The 235/45R18's you asked about in the other thread would be a much better choice for you, even though they are too big around - A 215 tire is pretty narrow to stretch onto an 8" wheel and with the 235's, you can get a properly load rated tire - There are several rated 98W, so make sure you choose one of those. The sidewalls will still be shorter than with the stock 16's, but not as much - 45% of 235 is taller than 45% of 215 . . . . but still less than 55% of 215 Don

The sidewalls aren't taller - The 16's have a 4.66" sidewall and the 18's are only 4.16". That's over 10% shorter His 235/45R18's are 4% larger in circumference than the 16's, so the speedo should be off by that same amount. The ride will be noticeably worse of course and with the slightly shorter sidewalls, you'd need to be careful of bending a wheel if you hit a chuck hole Don

I would be careful of making any major change - As you gently accelerate away from a standing stop on flat level ground, the computer knows the best shift points for the little 4 cylinder powering your large van and even a relatively small change in the gear ratio by mounting larger tires will throw off that relationship between engine RPM and when the transmission shifts A close friend bought a V-8 Chevy pick-up that the PO had mounted aftermarket wheels/tires on which he hated the look of. He found a guy to trade him for a set of stock wheels and the difference in performance was HUGE when he got the correct size tires on it again. If it made a big difference in a V-8 powered rig, I can imagine the change with our little four Still, I suppose there are those who value 'the look' over everything else, performance be damned . . . . otherwise, those wheels would have never been mounted on that truck Don

You want the overall circumference of the tires to be very close to the stock tires - Transmission shift points is the most serious thing that will be affected if you stray very far from stock and that will really affect how the van drives Easiest is to remove the OEM TPMS sensors from your stock wheels and install them in your new wheels. You can buy new Ford compatible sensors and use those, but you'll have to reprogram the van to recognize the new sensors - Not that hard to do, but much easier if you buy a programming tool Don

If all your high quality craftsmanship is only 5% of your effort, you must really be racking your brain the other 95% of the time! It's really looking great. Amazing that little battery runs that pump as long as it does Don

Are you looking for stiffer springs, or shocks valved differently? Either way, I would think a slightly stiffer front sway bar would do more for your problem than messing with the struts Don

The glass in the wagon versions is an electric opening window. If it were me, I think I'd probably try to buy the entire door for a wagon version from a boneyard and just swap out the doors. No idea what that would cost, but it might be easier than trying to convert your door to window version Don

That looks like the light over the rear seats in my TC. I would guess it plugs into the forward light between the sun visors, but that's just a guess. Maybe if you lower that light, you'll see where the additional plug goes? If there's not an extra socket there for it, it shouldn't be too hard to cut off the connector and splice it into the wiring for the forward light Don

Nice looking TC! I usually consider a dollar a mile off the sticker for a used one to be a good deal and you beat that by a good bit! - Super deal!! Don

I think you're right - The 2014's and later were built in Spain Don

But . . . . he said he wants to get the biggest one . . . . Don

It's very similar to the technology many of us have used for years on boats, except that on a boat we usually have much better insulation around the fridge than these little portable units have. It will draw a constant current when it's running, but the compressor will cycle on and off. The overall average amp draw will depend on the ratio of it's running time vs it's off time and that will vary greatly depending on how cool you have it set, how full you keep it (fuller is better) how warm the ambient temperature around the unit is and how often you're opening it to get things out or put things in. Putting a warm 6 pack of drinks in it may have it running constantly for a couple hours to cool them down. Putting a warm tray of water in to make ice cubes, same thing When you're designing your electrical system to power it, I would figure on 3 amps per hour, about 75 AH per 24 hour period and you should be closer to the actual requirement. The amp draw in 'normal use' is always much greater than the advertised rate Don

The hitch hauler says it's rated for a Class II, III, IV or V so it should work OK with the either the OEM or aftermarket 2" hitches on the TC. Some of the reviews on the hauler aren't that great . . . . I wouldn't expect too much from it Don

2010 was the first USA model. They are built in Europe (Spain) and weren't imported here until then. Largest model here would be the 2014 thru 2017 LWB (Long Wheel Base) version, though the 2010 thru 2013 models were taller - Taller but shorter Don

That would be a 'cooler' and not a 'fridge' . . . . correct? A fridge can keep insulin at the proper temperature and keep meat from spoiling . . . . it could even make ice cubes if you need to Don

That's probably averaged over a 24 hour period, fridge set to cool and not cold, kept in a place where the temperature is 70 degrees - Not hot and never opening the fridge to add warm beverages, etc. Under real world conditions, expect your average amp draw to be closer to 2.5 amps/hour, maybe even more if you have it set to freeze ice and you frequently open it to get things out or put warm things in Don

Brings back memories for sure! - I cut a hole under the dash of my '58 Corvette to install an 8 track tape player . . . . sure wouldn't do that again today!! In my defense, this was in 1967 and I cut the hole on the underside of the center overhang where the rear view mirror is mounted. You couldn't see the 8 track at all tucked up in there unless you bent over and looked up at it. Oh, and I should probably mention - I paid $650 for the Corvette, put a new battery in it and drove it home. It had been stored for 2 years in a lady's back yard while her son was overseas in the Army. He quit sending Mom the money to make the payments and since the title was in her name, she sold me the car for what was owed on it just to make the payments go away Don